The present invention relates to electronic whiteboards and more specifically to remote diagnostic systems for electronic whiteboards.
Various types of electronic whiteboards have been developed to help people share information. To this end, most electronic whiteboards include a large flat surface on which information is applied for viewing by people within a conference or other type of space, some type of a sensor system for sensing interactive activities with the whiteboard surface that are intended to alter the information presented on the surface, some type of whiteboard driver for controlling the information that is present on the whiteboard surface and a computer (e.g., a laptop, PC, etc.) to run whiteboard and other software applications.
In some cases a whiteboard system will include a large liquid crystal display (LCD) or a plasma display for presenting information and the driver will be a display driver. Here, the sensor systems typically include a laser type system that senses the locations of pen tips, the location of a finger tip, etc., adjacent the front surface of the display to determine when image altering activities are occurring. In other cases the whiteboard system will include a projector that projects images on the whiteboard surface and the whiteboard surface may be touch sensitive. Exemplary touch sensitive whiteboards may include first and second layers that form the whiteboard surface where pressing of a pen tip against the first layer causes the rear surface thereof to contact the front surface of the second layer and where the contact location between the first and second layers can be sensed. In still other cases the whiteboard may be equipped with ultrasonic sensors and a writing device (e.g., a pen) to be used therewith may generate a clicking noise that is sensed by the sensors and that can be used in a triangulation process to identify pen tip location. In any of the above cases, as a change is made to alter a whiteboard image (e.g., a pen tip is moved diagonally across the whiteboard surface), the activity is sensed and used to alter the surface image.
In the case of a system that includes a touch sensitive whiteboard surface and a projected image, a precise calibration of the projected image to the whiteboard surface is required for the system to reproduce image changes that accurately reflect image altering activities performed by a person using the whiteboard. One solution for aligning a projected image with a whiteboard sensing system is to facilitate a calibration commissioning procedure wherein a known image is projected onto the whiteboard that includes reference points. A system user contacts each of the reference points with a stylus or the like to earmark the locations. Thereafter the system computer stores the locations of the reference points and uses those points to calibrate other locations on the whiteboard surface. While this solution works well when performed properly, when this solution is not performed properly or is performed in a sloppy fashion (e.g., the points selected by the user are not precisely aligned with the projected reference points), alignment is inaccurate and activities on the whiteboard surface intended to alter whiteboard images are imprecisely replicated by the whiteboard.
After a whiteboard has been calibrated or has been calibrated and the projection from a projector is aligned with the whiteboard surface during a commissioning procedure, during operation of the whiteboard, the whiteboard can malfunction in several different ways. For instance, several different occurrences can degrade or substantially hinder pen/stylus tip tracking including lose or corruption of calibration data (e.g., due tot a power surge), sensor malfunctions, a short in between layered whiteboard sensors (e.g., due to debris lodged between layers), whiteboard power fluctuations, etc.
As another instance, several different whiteboard components can malfunction independent of other whiteboard components. For example, whiteboard LEDs that indicate specific activities can burn out or otherwise be rendered unable to be illuminated. As another example, a whiteboard cooling fan can malfunction. Other exemplary components that can malfunction include sound generators (e.g., speakers), a whiteboard processor, etc.
As still one other instance, a whiteboard can malfunction when the laptop or PC used to control the whiteboard has application programs loaded thereon that are incompatible with the whiteboard application programs. Thus, for instance, where a laptop has thirty different applications programs loaded in addition to the whiteboard application program, it may be that two of the application programs in addition to the whiteboard application program are not compatible with the whiteboard program so that the whiteboard program malfunctions in some respects during whiteboard activities.
In many cases symptoms of whiteboard malfunction may result from any of several different causes and in these cases it is often difficult to determine what a symptom is indicating. For instance, where a whiteboard does not accurately track the tip of a stylus, is the inaccurate tracking symptom caused by loss or degradation of calibration data, a malfunctioning sensor, a malfunctioning board processor, a power malfunction, etc. As another instance, where an LED does not illuminate when anticipated, is the dark LED an indication that the LED is not working, that a sensor linked to the LED has malfunctioned or that the operating characteristic associated with the dark LED has not occurred. As still one other instance, when a fan does not rotate when expected, is the still fan an indication that the fan is not working, that a temperature sensor that controls the fan is not working or that the whiteboard temperature is simply to low for the fan to rotate.
Typically when a whiteboard malfunctions, a technician is dispatched to the location of the board on a service call. Once the technician arrives at the board location, the technician observes the malfunction symptoms and assesses likely causes of the malfunction. Next the technician performs various tests to determine the cause(s) of the malfunction and then the technician repairs or reprograms (e.g., performs a recalibration process to regenerate calibration data for the board) the board to eliminate the malfunction.
While dispatching a technician works well to correct malfunctions, this solution has several shortcomings. First, technicians are often highly trained people and therefore their time is very expensive. Dedicated technician trips to board locations are expensive and therefore should be avoided whenever possible.
Second, qualified technicians are not always immediately available for dispatch to malfunctioning boards and therefore there is often a delay between the time a request for technical support is lodged and the time at which a technician arrives at a board location to diagnose the cause of a malfunction. This board down time is, at a minimum, a nuisance and in many cases can affects productivity of people that use the board.
Third, in some cases malfunctions are relatively minor and do not affect the overall operation of a whiteboard for its primary purpose. For instance, where an LED malfunctions, other whiteboard components may still operate effectively so that the board can be used for its primary and intended purpose despite the dark LED. If a board user could ascertain that the LED has burnt out and that the dark LED is not indicating some more serious system problem, the user may forego repair/replacement of the LED to avoid the technician cost or may simply put off LED replacement until a more urgent maintenance issue occurs thereby reducing (i.e., one dispatch instead of two) and delaying costs. In the alternative, a board user may be able to easily repair a malfunctioning component (e.g., a burnt out LED) thereby eliminating the need for technician dispatch altogether.
In the computer industry remote diagnostics systems have been developed that allow an IT technician to patch into a local PC or laptop computer to observe a user's desk top activities. Here, in at least some cases, the IT technician is provided a copy of the local computer's desktop in a window and, in addition to being able to observe the desktop image, can run desktop applications in the same way that the local computer can be used to run the applications. In these cases, when the remote computer runs the applications on the local computer, the remote image mirrors the local image. While this solution works well in the case of PCs and laptops where software programs are to be examined for faulty operation, this solution does not work well in the case of a whiteboard where, when the board malfunctions, mirroring of the board image alone would be no more instructive as to the cause of the malfunction than if the technician were at the board location observing the board itself. Thus, for instance, where the board fails to accurately track pen tip movement there across, mirroring of the board image would simply generate an image from which the tracking inaccuracy alone could not be identified. As another instance, where an LED remains dark when it should have been illuminated, known remote diagnostic systems could not be used to ascertain or narrow down the cause (e.g., burnt out LED, malfunctioning sensor, etc.) of the dark LED.